Come Home to Me
by trappedtraveler
Summary: Jane and Lisbon had a pretty serious argument. Then she avoided him for days. How the things would turn out between them?
1. Chapter 1: She Didn't Say Anything

Disclaimer: _The Mentalist_—as you all know—is not mine. Yes, I'm not Bruno Heller. This is all Jane and Lisbon (or Jisbon, as some might prefer). For entertainment purpose only. Enjoy!

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Patrick Jane pressed the red button to cut the dial tone once again. He just ended his fifth consecutive attempt to call Teresa Lisbon. They had a pretty serious argument three days ago and they still hadn't talked to each other since.

It all started by—as usual—Jane's brilliant yet reckless plan. The plan was so reckless and dangerous, it almost got his colleagues, Wayne Rigsby and Grace Van Pelt, killed. Thank God, their other pal, Kimball Cho, came just in time to save the day.

Lisbon—who was still traumatized by the incident when Van Pelt got shot and broke a couple of her ribs—went ballistic on Jane.

"Why are you keep doing this, Patrick?" she frowned. Her face was filled with so many emotions. Pain, anger, disappointment, exhaustion, even fear.

"I… but we caught the bad guy, right? Now he won't…"

She cut it right away. "That's not the biggest point, Pat… GOSH! Why are you so selfish?"

Jane decided not to say anything. Not only because she's yelling at him, but because she called him 'Patrick', instead of 'Jane'. He knows that the only times she will call him by his first name are when she's really worried about his well-being and when she's furious. Looking at all circumstances they were in, the latter would most definitely fit.

She hugged herself, as if trying to make the distance farther between them. They kept staring at each other; neither of them was sure enough to pick up the conversation where it was left off. Jane loves silence, most of the time. It gives him peace and a huge space to think about stuff, but he surely hates this kind of silence he's having with her. A moment later, he decided to break it.

He sighed heavily. "I know I've let you down. I know that I was being selfish and reckless. But we managed, right, Lisbon? No one got hurt and even better, the plan worked!"

"Can't you see? This is not the first time you put your—no, our! Our co-workers in danger! How if everything didn't work out the way you planned? They wouldn't be sitting there, dealing with that damn paperwork! No, we could be grieving over them now and the thought of it scares the hell out of me! How could you…" she couldn't even finish it. She looked at him once again and Jane knew, right at that very moment, that she needed to be left alone.

"I'm sorry, Lisbon, I really am. I'll call you later, okay? And… I'll meet you home tonight, right?"

She didn't say anything.

"Teresa?"

She didn't even make a sound. She was just standing there, across from him, doing nothing but staring him right in the eye.

He felt a big punch of disappointment when she didn't reply any of his questions. He took a few steps towards her to kiss her on her forehead, or on any side of her cheek just like he always does. Suddenly, he stopped. He just smiled, turned around, and excused himself out of her office.

He's still hoping that he would meet her home later that night, although he wasn't really sure about it.


	2. Chapter 2: She Didn't Come Home

Jane sat quietly on the couch and kept looking at the door. Hoping that someone would come walking through it. He was hoping that 'someone' would be Lisbon. She didn't call, she didn't pick up her phone, and it looked to him like he wouldn't see her for the rest of the night.

He didn't want to call any of his colleagues for reasons. First, it would be strange, because he never did that before. He never had to, because Lisbon would always take his calls. Lisbon would even call him first.

Second, if Lisbon was still at her office and he's asking for her to either of them, it would build up their suspicion. They would sense that there's something wrong.

He could even picture Rigsby or Van Pelt asking, "_Why Jane didn't just call you, boss?_"

Well, Cho wouldn't ask anything, maybe, but he would definitely aware of it, too.

Third, there's a huge possibility they could find out the fact that they're actually a couple. They have been hiding it for four months now. He knew it would be so awkward if that happened.

"Where are you, Lisbon?" Jane asked himself while kept looking at his phone. "Come on, Teresa. A call, just a call, or a text, anything!"

He's trying to avoid those ugly visions that were trying to creep into his head. He was most afraid that Lisbon could be in some danger and not be able to call him. He would prefer her to stay mad at him for weeks, rather than seeing her in harm.

He took a sip of his favorite tea from his sixth cup. It was already 1 AM and he couldn't close his eyes.

"_Where are you spending the night?_"

"_Is there someone to keep you company?_"

"_Are you okay?_"

Those questions—and a bunch more—were filling his head like crazy. She had never done this before. For a moment there, he thought she was being childish. But then, when he looked back at himself, he knew that he would have done the same thing if it was reversed. He would go someplace to cool himself down and avoid going into further argument with her.

He understood, but it killed him to not knowing.


	3. Chapter 3: She Missed Him, Too

After countless attempts in calling Lisbon, Jane decided not to bother keeping up with the numbers. He kept calling her and she kept refusing to pick it up. She hadn't come home in two days and Jane decided that it was enough. More than enough. He knew that she should come home and talk about the whole stuff with him. She couldn't avoid it forever, could she?

Jane came to the headquarter earlier. The moment he entered the parking lot, he didn't see her car. He walked straight to his favorite brown old couch right after entering the bullpen. There was no one in sight, except a couple cleaning men mopping the floor here and there.

Time passed and people started to show up.

"Hey, Jane. You're early," Cho greeted him while putting his coffee on the table.

Jane smiled. "Yeah. I feel like coming early today,"

Cho nodded, sat on his chair, and drank his coffee. A moment later, he reached a box filled with half dozen of donuts. "Want some?" he offered it to Jane.

Jane got up and said, "Sure. Jelly?"

"Yep,"

He took one and bit it. "Hmmm… this is nice. Thanks, Cho,"

After the third bite, he caught a glimpse of Lisbon. She was just out from the elevator and went straight to her office.

"Catch you later, Cho. Thanks again," he patted Cho on the shoulder as he walked to Lisbon's office.

She was putting her blazer on the hanger. He stood silently across her desk. He really wanted to hug her right away, but he knew that he couldn't.

As she turned her back, she was surprised to find him there. "Jane?"

"We should talk, Lisbon. We can't keep doing this forever,"

She sat on the chair and immediately went through paperwork. "I've got work to do,"

"Lisbon…"

"Yes, we'll talk, but later. Not now and definitely not here. Now please…" she looked impatience and uneasy.

Jane didn't move. He ran his fingers through his hair and said, "Why are you doing this to me? To us? I know I made a mistake, but I genuinely feel sorry about that. Why can't we just move on? That'll make it easier, don't you think?"

Right after he finished, someone knocked.

"Come in," said Lisbon.

It was Van Pelt, carrying a file. "Boss, I think you need to see this," she handed it to Lisbon. "Hey, Jane,"

He smiled at her.

Lisbon took a quick read on it. "Okay. Thanks Grace,"

Jane knew she wouldn't talk about it any further. He walked towards the door, opened it, and before he stepped out from her office, he turned back and said, "I miss you, Lisbon," then he smiled and walked out.

When the door was finally closed, she looked at it, and whispered, "I miss you, too,"


	4. Chapter 4: She Took His Call

He's doing it again. Sitting quietly on the couch while looking at the door like a fool. He told himself that if God could only grant him one wish, he'd ask for Lisbon to walk through that damn door. The tea he made half an hour ago had gone cold. He looked around the apartment; everything looked and felt pretty much the same just like when he's waiting for her a couple days ago. But there's only one difference, he hadn't called her. No, not even a single call.

He glanced at his phone.

_Should I call her? _

_Will she pick it up?_

All he had to do was pressing '2' for 3 seconds and that's it. She's already on his speed dial, why should he make any of this feels harder? He closed his eyes and took a deep sigh to calm himself down before making his umpteenth attempt in calling Lisbon. He couldn't bear to spend another night without her in his sight.

He pressed the button and waited. After what felt like eternity, his ear met her voice, "Jane?"

He got up. "Lisbon! Finally!"

"I know. I'm sorry for avoiding you like this. It's childish, I know, and I'm sorry,"

"I don't care! I just want you to come home. Where are you? You want me to pick you up?"

She took a deep breath before answering, "I don't know. The thing is, I'm not really sure if I should come home tonight. Maybe tomorrow…"

He didn't say a word. No, it's not because he's mad, but because he was trying to catch another sound that he's hearing on the background. It was a girl's voice, arguing with man over… "_What is it?_" he asked himself. He's focusing his attention once again. He could hear Lisbon calling his name, but he decided to ignore it for a minute.

"_…I ate that yesterday, dad. Why can't I have my PBJ sandwich today?_"

He smiled. He recognized the voice. It was Annie's. She was arguing over dinner with her dad, Tommy, who happens to be Lisbon's brother.

"Jane? Are you there?"

"Yes, I'm here, Lisbon. I know where you are and I simply can't wait for you to come home tomorrow. I'm on my way to pick you up right now,"

"Wait!" she yelled. "Tell me, where am I?"

"I can hear Annie and Tommy arguing over a sandwich, loud and clear, Lisbon. I'm going there and I'm taking you to dinner. I bet you haven't had any, right?"

"Jane…"

He was already at the door with his keys in hand. "What?"

"I'll go home tomorrow,"

"And why is that?" he asked impatiently. He put the keys inside his pocket and put his free hand on the door knob.

"I need some time to prepare myself before meeting you again. I was mad at you for a while back then, and now I'm kind of ashamed by acting like a child who doesn't want to forgive her parents for not getting the doll she wants so bad," she's trying so hard to sound normal so Jane wouldn't know that she was crying.

He smiled. "I miss you, please… come home," he held back his tears. "Teresa… I'm worth coming home to,"

She let her tears streamed down her cheeks. She missed him so much it hurt. "Jane…"

"Leave your car at Tommy's, we'll get it tomorrow morning on our way to work. Now, all you have to do is sit and wait for me. I'll be there in a blink," he stepped outside and locked the door. "Wipe the tears, Lisbon. You know you don't look good when you're crying,"

She yelled, "Jane!" but she wiped her tears anyway.

He shrugged even though he knew she couldn't see it. "But I still love you, no matter what,"

"Come here fast, but drive carefully. If you got another ticket, I wouldn't let you go away without paying like the last time,"

He got into his car. "Oh my, no wonder you are a part of law enforcement," he started the car. "I should hang up because I know it'll be reckless for driving while talking to you on the phone. I'll see you soon, okay?"

She wiped her tears. "Okay. I'll be here. Love you," she smiled.

He grinned with joy. "I love you too, Grumpy,"


End file.
